Apparatus to measure hamstring and lower back flexibility is well known in the health and fitness industry. For example the catalogues of the Australian company Hart Sport and the US company Lafayette Instrument show box like steel structures with a foot plate and a slide bar which moves on a linear scale to register an individual's maximum reach. However these structures are bulky and heavy to transport and store.
A primitive apparatus of this kind is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 6,821,257 which teaches a method for evaluating the likelihood of a person developing a back injury on a job which requires medium to heavy lifting and a variety of back movements. Although simple, this apparatus is bulky and has no scale for measuring reach which must be done by other means.
JP2001-70286 discloses an apparatus where the user sits in a frame with parallel rails extending at right angles to a wall with her back to the wall and pushes a tray like trolley along the rails to her maximum reach. This apparatus can be dismantled for transport but its reassembly is complex and time consuming. Also the calibration of the device to measure reach presents some difficulty.